Son of Bhrigu

by CHRISTOPHER C. DOYLE

  The mantra that Shukra had been muttering!

  It hit her like a lightning bolt.

  It couldn’t be.

  Yet, there it was.

  She had understood the mantra that Shukra was reciting. Her father had compelled her to learn Sanskrit from a very early age, even though it was never a part of the school curriculum. As a result, she had picked up the language quite easily and fairly quickly, and was proficient in reading, writing and even speaking Sanskrit. Despite not having been taught the mantras, she could understand their true meaning.

  She knew from whatever she had read about Shukracharya, that he had the ability to get information from someone’s mind. And that’s exactly what he had been doing.

  Shukra had used the mantra to read her father’s mind!

  But what had he been looking for? What did her father know that Shukra had to resort to forcing it out of him?

  She turned to Tiwari. ‘Fine. If that really was the Shukracharya from the ancient texts, then I don’t give a damn about how he turned up thousands of years after he is supposed to have lived on earth. I suppose there are things here that I don’t yet know of.’ A bitterness crept into her voice. ‘But I would still like to know why he killed my father. What did my dad have to do with any of this?’

  There was silence for a few moments as Tiwari mulled over what he would say. He wanted to be honest with this girl, who was now orphaned. She had seen her father meet with a gruesome end, and Tiwari felt immense compassion in his heart, for her. But he was also bound by the rules of the Sangha . And he didn’t know enough about Maya yet. He decided to probe first.

  ‘Maya, Dhananjay Trivedi was your teacher, right? Did he ever speak to you about the Gana ?’

  ‘The Gana ?’ Maya’s baffled expression spoke for itself. She also wondered how Ratan Tiwari knew Dhananjay Trivedi, but she didn’t ask. There were too many new facts being revealed and Maya felt overwhelmed. For now, all that mattered to her was her father’s death. She needed to gather as much information around it as possible.

  Tiwari pondered some more. The girl had never heard of the Gana , which simply meant that she had never been approached for recruitment. Trivedi had been the designated recruiter for her school and clearly he had not thought her suitable. Yet, she was the daughter of Dhruv. But then, why did Virendra want her at the Gurukul if she wasn’t a potential recruit? He couldn’t reconcile the apparent contradictions.

  ‘To answer your question,’ he began, choosing his words carefully, not wanting to reveal too much, ‘your Dad was a Maharishi.’ He turned to her and their eyes met briefly before he turned his attention back to the road.

  Maya let out an involuntary gasp. She knew what a Maharishi was. She had read enough about them. But this didn’t make sense! Maharishis existed . . . well, aeons ago. Not in this day and age! No one today had the powers that the Maharishis of the Mahabharata and the other Vedic texts had. Plus, this was her Dad they were talking about. Her mild-mannered academic, bookish father. How could he have been a Maharishi? Had she not known him at all . . . ?

  Yet, she remembered how her father had communicated with her on that last day. Words that had been spoken straight to her mind.

  Telepathy.

  Like the ancient Maharishis.

  Could it be true?

  ‘His real name was Dhruv,’ Tiwari added gently. ‘He was one of the most powerful Maharishis alive. No one else could have fought Shukra the way he did.’

  Maya nodded wordlessly. She realized that Virendra must have conveyed her description of what she had witnessed, to Tiwari.

  ‘He said that he couldn’t hold him off much longer,’ she said softly, more to herself than to Tiwari, beginning to believe more and more in the amazing tale that was unfolding through Tiwari’s words.

  Another memory wafted through her mind. ‘I think that Shukra had some kind of a hold on me. On my mind. A grip that I couldn’t free myself from. But Dad broke it. He told me to run.’ She looked at Tiwari. ‘He was no match for Shukra, though. And now, I can see why. The grandson of Brahma. The son of a Saptarishi. Who could stand against him?’

  Tiwari continued to focus on the road ahead. ‘Actually, I wasn’t referring to what you saw. I was talking about what happened fourteen years ago. In Allahabad.’

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Arjun Learns the Truth

  The Gandharva Valley

  ‘Not us,’ Virendra said slowly, emphasizing each word. ‘It isn’t us that Shukra is after.’ He paused and took a deep breath, clearly intending to elaborate.

  Before he could continue, Arjun jumped in. ‘Then why did we leave Delhi?’ he demanded. He sounded angry and distressed.

  ‘Hear me out, Arjun,’ Virendra calmed himself with an effort. It seemed like Arjun was going out of his way to be annoying. He knew he had to be patient with the boy. It must have been a huge disruption for him, being uprooted from Delhi, where he had spent all his childhood, and having to flee town at such short notice, leaving his school, his friends behind. And so far he had no idea what all of it was for.

  Arjun folded his arms and tried not to glare at Virendra.

  ‘We are Kshatriyas,’ Virendra resumed. ‘But not ordinary Kshatriyas. We are Chandravanshis — the Lunar dynasty, descended from Buddha, the son of Soma. We are direct descendants of Yayati, a king and a sage, venerated by history. The responsibility of leading the entire Kshatriya clan, to protect humanity, falls upon our shoulders. In my generation, your father, Rudrapratap, had that responsibility. As his son, that mantle passed down to you after his death.’

  Pramila rose and went to Arjun. She stood behind him, one hand on his shoulder.

  Virendra took another deep breath and continued. ‘Shukra wanted to wipe out Yayati’s lineage. That’s why he killed your father. And he didn’t stop there. He tried to kill you, too. It is only because of Dhruv that you escaped death.’ He hesitated, then carried on. ‘Dhruv helped us all escape from Allahabad. Without him, you wouldn’t be alive. None of us would be alive.’

  Arjun felt strange. He had never known his father but to hear a story about his death at the hands of an ancient Rishi who was the guru of the Asuras felt surreal. He was still trying to comprehend the revelation that he belonged to a line of kings that was famous in mythology for their deeds and valour.

  Was all of this true? He couldn’t believe that his own mother and uncle would cook up such a fantastic story. He had seen for himself the urgency with which Virendra had driven them all the way here from Delhi.

  Things which had seemed odd earlier, began to make sense.

  Virendra’s non-stop driving with only a few halts along the way; brief and hurried, as if someone was pursuing them.

  Because the risk of Shukra pursuing them had loomed large.

  The call with Maya and Virendra’s immediate reaction when Arjun had echoed Shukra’s name. His uncle had almost snatched the phone from his hand. He hadn’t understood why at the time but now he did.

  Shukra was the biggest threat to all of their lives.

  Maya’s news about her father being killed by Shukra. Now he understood the motive behind the murder. Of course! If Maya’s father had helped them escape Allahabad, then surely Shukra would’ve been hell bent on extracting revenge for thwarting his plans.

  A cold fear took hold of him as he began connecting the dots.

  Everything led to one inescapable fact. If Shukra had wanted to wipe out Yayati’s lineage, and had failed to do so in Allahabad, then he would want to complete the job now.

  His uncle’s words rang true. Shukra was not after them .

  Shukra was after him .

  The Gwalior-Jhansi highway

  Maya was silent. She sat shell-shocked.

  Devastated.

  She didn’t know how she should feel after hearing what Tiwari had just told her. On the one hand, there was pride that welled up within her. Pride and respect for her father; for the manner in which he had battled Shukra in Alla
habad.

  On the other hand, though, there was the disturbing revelation of how Dhruv had ensured Arjun’s safety. Her father had made Shukra believe that he had succeeded in killing Arjun and his mother, but to do that he had had to make a supreme sacrifice.

  Her father’s ploy had allowed Arjun to escape with his life and his family. But at what cost? She couldn’t believe that her father had done the unthinkable. Or that she hadn’t known his terrible secret; a secret that he had hidden away, never allowing even a hint to surface in all the years she was growing up.

  Maya couldn’t even begin to imagine how her father had spent the last fourteen years harbouring a secret so terrible.

  She buried her face in her hands and wept, struggling with the conflicting emotions that coursed through her being.

  Tiwari looked over at her, concerned, but said nothing. He understood what Maya was going through. It was best to let her vent her emotions.

  Silence reigned in the car for the next few hours. Maya sat, lost in thought, sometimes with her eyes closed, at other times staring out of the window at the passing scenery.

  They whizzed through Jhansi and Orchha and reached the narrow road leading to the Panna National Park. Darkness was falling now and Tiwari wanted to reach their destination before daylight disappeared. Maya had told him about her experience in Arjun’s house and Tiwari knew what that meant.

  Suddenly, Maya, who had been looking out of the window, gave a startled exclamation. She began looking around frantically, at the road that stretched before them, and the fields on either side.

  ‘Um, looking for something?’ Tiwari ventured.

  Maya settled back in her seat, looking puzzled. ‘Just checking something out,’ came her terse reply.

  ‘We’re almost there,’ Tiwari told her. ‘Just a few more miles to go.’

  Maya nodded absently. Tiwari was worried. When they had left Delhi, she had been insistent on knowing where they were going. He hadn’t told her yet, but their destination didn’t appear to interest her any more.

  He could only hope that he had done the right thing by revealing the truth about her father. They had almost reached Panna. Soon she would meet Arjun and Virendra. He knew that Arjun and Maya were good friends.

  But that was before she and Tiwari had had this chat.

  How would Maya react when she met them?

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Unhappy Reunion

  Pandava Falls

  Madhya Pradesh

  The little group stood outside the cliff face, the entrance to the Gandharva valley, in the growing dusk. The lake and the forest were deserted. As the sun had begun to set the few straggling tourists had also disappeared, and there was no one else around.

  Arjun looked on dejectedly as Varsha and the other Gandharvas bade farewell to Virendra and Pramila.

  He had been in a daze ever since his uncle and mother had revealed to him their true identities along with the history of his family and their lineage. It had all seemed so unreal.

  Arjun had locked himself away in a room in the Gandharva cottage for the rest of the day, emerging only when food arrived for them from the king’s kitchens. It seemed hard to believe that, just yesterday, he had been an ordinary schoolboy, preparing for a history test. Now, suddenly, he was the heir to an ancient line of kings who were among the most respected and heroic warriors of Indian mythology.

  Only, this was no longer mythology. It was very, very real.

  The immense protective shield that Virendra had thrown around him all this while, began to make sense. The many things that had stifled him and restricted his freedom— his uncle insisting on dropping him to school and picking him up every day; never being allowed, in his entire life, to leave the house without either Virendra or Pramila chaperoning him; not being allowed to attend birthday parties, school functions and melas alone, or go for movies with friends. There had never been an exception to this rule. He had always had either his uncle or his mother hovering around. He had never understood it and had often chafed at their constant presence in his life. Only now did he understand why it was so important for them to watch him all the time.

  And it didn’t make him any happier now that he knew.

  Arjun also realized now the true purpose of the sword fighting lessons imparted to him by his uncle. He had, on occasion, wondered where his uncle had honed his own sword fighting skills, but it had never seemed important, so he had never asked. The answer lay in plain sight now. It was obvious that martial skills were passed down the generations in his family. His own father had not been around to teach him, so his uncle had.

  Had his own father also been an ace swordsman? The thought flashed through Arjun’s mind before the bigger implication hit him again.

  He had to carry on his family’s responsibility of protecting humanity.

  Arjun felt vaguely inadequate. He was just a fifteen-year-old boy. How he was supposed to discharge this responsibility, was beyond him. Virendra had offered no word of explanation either. Just the statement that his father’s responsibility had passed down to Arjun.

  Great.

  And now they were going to the Gurukul. Whatever that was. Again, Virendra and Pramila had been tightlipped about it. The only thing that Arjun had been able to figure out was that it seemed to be a place where they would be safe.

  Where he would be safe.

  Where Shukra would not be able to reach him.

  Arjun was baffled. He had got the impression that Shukra was immensely powerful. Virendra had told him that the onset of Kaliyuga, along with Shukra’s presumed 5,000 years of tapasya, had only increased his powers. If this was true, how could any place be so impregnable that it could keep Shukra at bay?

  And there were still things that he did not understand. Questions that had been left unasked and unanswered.

  Like, how had Maya’s father saved Arjun’s life? How had they been able to deceive Shukra and flee Allahabad? Surely a Rishi as powerful as Shukra would not be so easy to fool. Yet, somehow, Maya’s father seemed to have done just that.

  But if Shukra was pursuing them now, it obviously meant that he had discovered the deception. The question was, how? What had led him to learn that Arjun was still alive? And how had he known where to find Arjun? If both DJ sir and Maya’s father were dead it was clear that Shukra was uncomfortably close to his target. But not on target yet.

  Which meant that he was not omniscient. Or infallible. He had been defeated once, and could be defeated again, Arjun reminded himself.

  Despite that realization, Arjun could not help the dread creeping up on him: Shukra was targeting him , specifically. If the Son of Bhrigu had tracked Arjun all the way from Allahabad to Delhi, what would stop him from pursuing Arjun to Panna, and then to the Gurukul?

  For the first time in his life, Arjun was seriously terrified. If his uncle, who had protected him all these years, was worried enough to flee Delhi in order to evade Shukra, it meant that he feared that the threat was too big for him to handle.

  And Arjun didn’t like the thought of that at all.

  Panna National Park

  Madhya Pradesh

  The sun had almost set and the gates of the park were shut. No one was around. The rangers had left for the night.

  Tiwari parked his car in front of the gates, casting a worried glance at the setting sun, as he alighted. ‘Maya, please stay in the car,’ he instructed.

  Maya nodded. She was curious to know why they had stopped here, but she said nothing. She watched Tiwari amble towards the park gates, which were secured by an iron chain that was looped several times around the bars of both gates, and held in place by a large padlock.

  Tiwari stood before the gates, muttering something. Maya could hear his voice through the open windows of the little car, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying or who he was speaking to.

  She let out a gasp. Was she seeing things in the dim twilight? She squinted hard. No, she was not imagining this. It was real
ly happening. The padlock which, until now, had firmly secured the gate, was now in Tiwari’s hand.

  As she looked on, the chain around the gates began unlooping, unwinding sinuously until it hung limply from only one of the gates. Tiwari reached out his hand and hung the padlock from one of the chain’s links.

  Maya gaped as Tiwari calmly walked back to the car.

  What had just happened?

  The question remained unasked. Just as Tiwari reached the car, a large vehicle drew up and came to a halt beside him.

  Maya recognized Virendra’s Land Cruiser. A weird, cold feeling coursed through her veins as she realized that Virendra, Pramila and Arjun were here.

  She felt uncomfortable. Tiwari hadn’t told her they would be meeting them.

  ‘Maya!’ Arjun sprang out of the SUV, beaming joyfully. This was the only bright spot in his day. He had been looking forward to this moment ever since Virendra had revealed that Maya was going to join them in Panna.

  Maya closed her eyes and tried to get a grip on her emotions. This was Arjun. Her childhood friend. They had grown up together. Been a part of every significant moment in each other’s lives. She should be happy and relieved to see him.

  But something had changed. Something had died within her. Maya couldn’t understand it. A part of her shrank back at this reunion.

  She desperately wished she was somewhere else.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Into the Park

  Panna National Park

  Madhya Pradesh

  ‘Hey, AJ,’ Maya smiled as Arjun ran up to Tiwari’s car. She tried to sound enthusiastic but despite her best efforts, there was a listlessness in her voice that betrayed her state of mind.

  Arjun did not miss the lack of enthusiasm in her voice. ‘What’s the matter, Maya?’ A look of concern replaced the enormous smile of joy.

  Almost immediately, he felt like kicking himself. What was wrong with him? Maya’s father had been brutally murdered by Shukra, and he was asking her what the matter was. He couldn’t have asked a stupider question if he tried. Of course she didn’t reciprocate his sunny welcome.